The invention refers to forming a transfer device, designed to be interjected between two containers so as to assure a moisture-proof attachment, without having to open up the containers to the atmosphere. Such a device can be utilized especially to assure the transfer of a product such as a powder between two containers in such a manner that at no time is the product exposed to the external environment.
The invention also relates to a particular type of container, conceived so that it can be attached to the waterproof transfer fixture mentioned earlier, so as to facilitate the transfer between the two containers.
It should be noted that the word "container" throughout the text refers to all waterproof containers which define a closed volume, whatever the shape or the dimensions of the volume.
In the current state of the technique, the transfer of powder products fabricated in pharmaceutical reactors into containers which serve to transport these products occurs by interjecting an isolating glove box between one of the discharge hoppers of the reactor and the container. An operator, having access by means of the integral gloves in the walls of the isolation box, manipulates a double door system so as to establish or to interrupt the communications of the isolation box with the reactor and with the container. When the two accesses are established, the operator, always, manually incorporates a flexible coupling which allows him to tie the discharge hopper of the reactor directly to the container across the isolation box.
This known approach is not convenient because it requires the use of expensive materials, requires a long time to implement and is not amenable to eventual automation.
The invention has as its specific purpose a device that is particularly adapted for waterproof attachment, and is not limited to the transfer of products between two containers. The original concept permits the reduction of costs in a sensible manner as well as the reduction of volume of such a device, to reduce the time necessary to establish a communication between the containers, and to permit the automation of the operations.